Welcome to LALos Angeles is a city carved out of the desert – a conjured image of paradise. These are the stories of people who learn what lies beyond the dream – yacht parties with theremin makers that end on the rocks, low-budget filmmaking that blurs the line between truth and fiction, movie stars and Hollywood hopefuls whose stories seem too crazy to be true. Welcome to Los Angeles.

Lost NotesThe greatest music stories never told. Explore the amazing stories of how 60s rock hit “Louie, Louie” triggered an FBI investigation, the outlaw Brooklyn radio station WBAD that tracked the rise of 90s hip hop, and the man who went from Folsom Prison inmate to Johnny Cash’s bandmate.

To the PointA weekly reality-check on the issues Americans care about most. Host Warren Olney draws on his decades of experience to explore the people and issues shaping – and disrupting - our world. How did everything change so fast? Where are we headed? The conversations are informal, edgy and always informative. If Warren's asking, you want to know the answer.

FROM THIS EPISODE

President Obama's Affordable Care Act is the biggest new government program since Medicare, but the disastrous roll-out is threatening his second term. Can he restore public confidence before he becomes a "lame duck?" Also, Iran's nuclear negotiations resume in Geneva, and an account of last year's presidential campaign by the authors of Game Change, about the campaign of 2008. We ask co-author Mark Halperin to compare and contrast.

Banner image: President Barack Obama works at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, October 18, 2013. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

As negotiations resumed today in Geneva, there were signs that Washington is prepared to offer Iran a deal to reduce economic sanctions. Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, talked of a possible "breakthrough." Michael Gordon is reporting the story for the New York Times.

High ratings in public opinion polls helped President Obama weather financial crises, withstand relentless Republican opposition and win re-election. Now, his ratings are dropping. The disastrous roll-out of healthcare.gov and his own misleading promise that people who liked their health insurance policies could keep them when the Affordable Care Act was implemented are obvious reasons. Critics see inexperience and bad management. Even supporters – including more than a dozen Democratic Senators who spent two hours with the President this week venting frustrations -- say he's failed to communicate well with the public. Two of them complained in public about "a crisis of confidence." Does the President have time to restore his image and pursue his agenda before being overtaken by the inevitable "lame duck" status of a second term?

The presidential campaign of 2008 was one of the most dramatic in decades. The best-seller Game Change took readers behind the scenes with Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin and the candidates of both parties. It was turned into an HBO movie. Now the same authors have followed up with Double Down, an account of last year's campaign. Mark Halperin of Time magazine is a co-author along with John Heilemann of New York magazine and MSNBC.